5 Major Factors Behind America's Strongest Cities

Derek Thompson reports on the twenty strongest metro areas and the major factors behind their success in recovering from the recession. He concludes that the country "did not experience an even, cross-country recession."

1 minute read

September 10, 2010, 2:00 PM PDT

By George Haugh


Thompson finds that education and health centers have fought back ferociously. "The eds and meds have outpaced the private sector in growth through the downturn, into the recovery, and they will continue to cast a long shadow over job creation in the next decade."

Similar Federal spending has allowed military cities to maintain a flowing economy through tech contracts and base spending. Cities such as Washington, Virginia Beach and Augusta have found this factor lucrative.

State capitals, cheap cost of living and Texas and the central time zone also feature heavily on the top 20 list, published by Brookings'.

Thursday, September 9, 2010 in The Atlantic

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